Investigators probe 100 Mile House plane crash

The Transportation Safety Board is investigating after a small plane crashed into the parking lot of a restaurant in 100 Mile House, B.C., on Saturday.

Witnesses say the plane crashed shortly after takeoff just before 4 p.m. PT. The plane apparently clipped a telephone wire and came down heavily into the side of a cement building.

"And you look at that plane and you wonder how people got out of there," said Jackie MacDonald, who watched the plane crash outside the Blue Sky Restaurant, where she works.

All three people on board the Cessna aircraft were taken to hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries.

"From what I understand, the wheels hit the power line and then the plane actually hit a restaurant sign and went through a restaurant parking lot," said RCMP Const. Lesley Smith.

"There was a lot of extremely lucky people today, as that plane also hit a parked car [and] nobody else was injured."

The names of the victims have not been released, but fire chief Darrell Blades told CBC News the pilot is an American who recently bought a resort on Quesnel Lake.

Blades said one of the passengers is a 100 Mile House resident who had been hired to work at the resort. He said the second passenger is a woman, but it was not clear if she is a local resident or if she was with the pilot.